“Bowling for Palestine”

“Bowling for Palestine” is how the Daily News and the Post (see also “PIN-HEAD ARAFAT’S TERROR ‘$TRIKE'”) are describing the revelation that Yasser Arafat had $1.3 million invested in the company that owns Greenwich Village’s Bowlmor Lanes:

The news, first reported in Bloomberg Markets Magazine, hit some Bowlmor patrons like a 15-pound ball taking down the headpin.

“If I had known, I wouldn’t have come, but I promised the kids,” said financier Steve Saslow, 55, with his 4-year-old and 8-year-old in tow.

It apparently also came as a surprise to Bowlmor’s owners, a company called Strike Holdings, which runs the bowling alley called Strike in New Hyde Park, L.I., as well as lanes in Maryland and Florida.

The firm said it was “shocked” to learn Arafat was behind the investment – and planned to return the money and sever any ties to the Palestinians.

“This information was never disclosed to us previously, and had we known the source of these funds, which represents approximately 2% of our company’s equity, we never would have accepted them,” spokeswoman Marcia Horowitz said.

“We do not endorse their values, and we do not want to be affiliated with them in any way.”

Bowlmor has been around since 1938, but it was sold in 1997 to entrepreneur Tom Shannon.

Shannon happened to attend business school with Arafat’s U.S. investment manager, Zeid Masri, who decided to park some Palestinian Authority cash in Bowlmor.

The $1.3 million, funneled through a company called Onyx Funds, was just a small piece of a $799 million fortune that Arafat invested in companies across the Middle East and the U.S.

Masri figured the stake would be a moneymaker, but it looks like a gutter ball for the Palestinian Authority, since Strike has not paid any dividends on the investment.

Nevertheless, with its disco atmosphere, $9 games and prime location, Bowlmor has become the top-grossing alley in the city – a popular spot for office parties and young singletons.

Its Web site also advertises it as a hot spot for bar mitzvahs, complete with a kosher caterer and a special room for candlelighting ceremonies.

Oh, the irony! Love that irony!

But of course there are also those who are able to disengage the personal from the political:

Sam Rubin, 30, an Israeli-born NYU student walking into Bowlmor yesterday, said the Arafat link would not stop him from tossing a couple of games.

“I’m glad Arafat’s dead, but I like to separate … politics and bowling,” he said.